Microsoft cleared by UK watchdog to buy 'Call of Duty' maker
Watchdog finally approves $69bn deal but criticises tech giant for its tactics
Microsoft's new offer to buy "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard has been approved by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), bringing an end to a near two-year bid to secure the gaming industry's biggest-ever takeover.
The approval follows a "restructuring of the deal" and a "major concession made by Microsoft" to the regulators, said PC Mag. This comes after the CMA blocked the original $69bn (£59bn) bid in April over concerns that Microsoft, which makes the Xbox console, would dominate the new cloud gaming market.
The Financial Times saw the approval differently, saying it "marks a win" for Brad Smith, the Microsoft executive who "led the company's legal campaign to defend a deal that many investors and analysts had written off earlier this year".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Writing on social media, Smith said Microsoft was "grateful" for the CMA's thorough "review and decision", which "we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide".
The CMA said the revised deal would "preserve competitive prices" in the gaming sector and offer more choice and better services, but the BBC said it has "proved controversial and received a mixed response from regulators around the world". It is the "biggest ever tech deal", said The Telegraph.
Even as it finally approved the takeover, the CMA reprimanded Microsoft, which had criticised the watchdog's initial rejection as "bad for Britain". The CMA's chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said that businesses and their advisers "should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA".
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had earlier intervened, urging the CMA to "understand their wider responsibilities". The UK regulator had "appeared increasingly isolated" in blocking the takeover after its EU counterparts passed the deal and the US competition regulator failed to secure a court injunction to stop it, said The Guardian.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.
-
Ports reopen after dockworkers halt strike
Speed Read The 36 ports that closed this week, from Maine to Texas, will start reopening today
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is the UK economy returning to normal?
Today's Big Question Tories claim UK has 'turned a corner' while Labour accuses government of 'gaslighting' public
By The Week UK Published
-
Empty-nest boomers aren't selling their big homes
Speed Read Most Americans 60 and older do not intend to move, according to a recent survey
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Brazil accuses Musk of 'disinformation campaign'
Speed Read A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk and X
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney board fends off Peltz infiltration bid
Speed Read Disney CEO Bob Iger has defeated activist investor Nelson Peltz in a contentious proxy battle
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published